Oral history recording of Lord Alan Sainsbury

Oral history recording of Lord Sainsbury of Drury Lane (Alan Sainsbury). Interviewed by Bridget Williams (Sainsbury's Archives).

Summary of content:
62_A: Involved in youth settlement Isle of Dogs. Moral pressure to join the family business in 1921. Visited Dutch agent in Holland. Breeseman (ph). Dairy training. Mother's family. Returned from Holland. Stamford House. Mr Goldup (ph) personal assistant to John Benjamin. S.C. Smith personal assistant. No formal training. Went to work in branches Boscombe behind counter. Wanted to be known as Mr Alan. His true identity was revealed. Understudy to Uncle Arthur in egg buying department and Uncle Alfred in dairy department. Eventually took over as egg buyer. Father's generation of Sainsbury's didn't get on smoothly. Father, JB Sainsbury, was dominating. Brothers were not good communicators. Working relationship with brother Robert. Process of taking over head of business. Frank Sainsbury Holloway Road bicycle incident in store. Farm Blunts Hall, near Haverhill, Suffolk. Paul Sainsbury joined 1921. Architect. Period in Goldup's office. Alan was destined for trade. Robert went to university and studied accountancy. Joint General Managers 1938. Father wanted to remain chairman. Development of stores. Provision merchants not grocers. Development of grocery departments.
62_B: Provision merchants. Mr Whitworth first grocery buyer. Mr Alan assistant to Mr Whitworth. Monday morning write out the biscuit order to Huntley and Palmers, Peek Frean, McVitie. Family facilities for mid-day meal. Geographical expansion. Agreement not to compete against small provision merchants grandparents' generation. Agreement dissolved David Gregg (ph). Ross Gregg (ph). Bought Thoroughgoods business in Midlands. Never liked the word supermarket. Second World War impact on branch development. No shortage of food immediately during "phoney war". Head of Co-op movement and Mr Alan persuaded Ministry that rationing be introduced prior to shortages started. Provisions- bulk of pre-war trade in perishable food and meat. Sainsbury's own point rationing. Chairman of Ministry of Food Retail Advisory Council. Control import of poultry. Import licensing systems. Belfast and Dublin. Impact of rationing on trade. Restricted. Quality was standardised. Procuring Danish butter ceased when Denmark and Holland occupied. Shadwell Watney Street branch bombed out. Travelling shop. Spirit of the staff and street traders morning after bombing. East Grinstead bombed twice.

63_A: Post war shortage of food. American supplies diverted to mainland of Europe post 1945 and resulted in extreme shortages in England. 1949 trip to America with Mr Salisbury. Frozen food industry. Frozen food coffins. Excited by potential for supermarket trading. Future was mass market. Credit, delivery and telephone ordering gone. Fortnum and Masons. Smaller self-service shops developed into larger supermarkets. Opposition to self-service. Competitors' view that English people would not take to self-service. Impact on packaging, refrigeration, shop lay out. Salisbury paced out width between shelves and gondolas in American supermarkets. Fixtures. Commodity lay out. Leonard Beaumont. Sir Francis Meynell. Sainsbury's typography style. OXO Bovril Victorian. Sainsbury packaging distinctive. Unified Sainsbury brand. Green Shield trading stamps 1960s. Garfield Weston. Advantage of top management drawn from family. Public loyalty.